Ohio DNR Offers Stream Quality Monitoring Workshops in August
OutdoorHub 07.30.12
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), the Scenic Rivers program is conducting workshops to recruit and train volunteers to conduct water quality monitoring on several of its state-designated scenic rivers. Volunteers will be trained to sample the water quality by learning to seine (net) and identify the aquatic macro-invertebrates (insects) that live in the rivers. The type, number and diversity of these aquatic macro-invertebrates are indicators of water quality. The data that these volunteer monitors collect is published in an online annual report.
Ohio Scenic Rivers program staff will be hosting the stream quality monitoring (SQM) workshops. All community residents who are interested in helping to monitor stream quality are invited to attend these workshops.
Each year, volunteers assist with the collection of small aquatic organisms to determine their type, distribution and abundance in designated portions of Ohio’s scenic rivers. The organisms are then returned to the water, and the data collected is used to help determine the health of that portion of a stream. Much of this SQM effort is supported by local volunteers. Previous years reports can be viewed on our website at: http://ohiodnr.com/watercraft/sqm/tabid/2550/default.aspx.
The SQM workshop provides interested volunteers free training covering how to check for changes in water quality and aquatic habitat as well as learning about the aquatic inhabitants found in our state’s scenic rivers. Training includes learning how to fill out and submit report forms as well as more information about Ohio’s scenic rivers. Interested participants are asked to pre-register and attend a SQM training workshop. Wear old clothes and closed-toe shoes as this activity occurs by wading in very shallow portions of streams.
SQM locations are listed below:
Aug. 1 from 6-8 p.m. at Riverside Park, Mt. Vernon;
Aug. 8 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Highbanks Metropark, central Ohio;
Aug. 15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Battelle Darby Creek Metropark, central Ohio;
Aug. 18 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Indian Mill along Sandusky River;
Aug. 18 from 1-2:30 p.m. at Wolf Creek along Sandusky River; and
Aug. 22 from 6-8 p.m. Mohican State Park Campground, Loudonville.
More information on the SQM workshops and Ohio’s Scenic Rivers is available online at www.ohiodnr.com/watercraft.
